Monthly Archives: February 2022

funeral homes in West Seattle, WA

Considerations Regarding Direct Cremation With The Funeral Home

Funeral homes in Seattle, WA are there to help you when you have need for final services. Whether you want to plan your own services ahead of time, or you need to plan things for a loved one who passed on, they will help you to get what you need. If cremation services are on your radar, there are considerations to think over as you think about the process, how it works, and the timing of it all. Here are some things to think through with care.

Direct Cremation Details

Direct cremation happens soon after a person’s death. You will want to be sure that cremation is what you want before you move forward because it is a permanent process. But the direct cremation process doesn’t include any pre-event services. It happens within a few days after death without anything else happening beforehand. Cremation happens in the same way every time, but the timing of the process can vary. Direct cremation is fast, efficient, and effective.

What Might Work For Your Situation

If you are planning your own services, you get to decide what’s best for you. Planning ahead means that you have time on your side so you can consider the options and make decisions when you feel ready for them. When you plan for a loved one, you might have to decide things faster and figure out what works well for your situation in a quicker manner. You will have to think about the circumstances, what your loved one would have wanted, and what is in the best interest of your family members. If direct cremation is a good fit, and you are sure about that, you can move in that direction.

What The Budget Calls For

What you can afford to spend is going to be a factor in any service you might be able to arrange for a family member, or for yourself. It’s wise to think about a budget that is both reasonable for services as well as affordable to you. If it’s on the small side, that’s okay. You can get what you need by going for cremation that is more direct. If that’s what you can afford, there’s nothing wrong with going that direction, simply for cost reasons. Direct cremation is completely honorable and respectful, no matter why you use it.

The Options Around Direct Cremation

funeral homes in West Seattle, WADirect cremation is often used because people simply want more options—and it gives plenty of them. You can do whatever kind of memorial service you want for your loved one, at any time and in any location. You can also enjoy the choices when it comes to final resting places. Many people choose direct cremation because of the options that float around it. You are able to customize and personalize every part of the process.

Any cremation package you choose follows regulations and is going to include a simple container, but you can also choose your own urn from funeral homes in Seattle, WA. Columbia Funeral Home & Crematory has all of the options you need for the entire process.

cremation services in Tukwila, WA

Memorializing A Loved One After Cremation Services

When a loved one passes away, that person is gone, but their memory is going to live on within you and your family members. Having a memorial after their cremation services in Tukwila, WA is a nice way to start in honoring them, but you can memorialize then in other ways as well. Here are a few ways to honor your loved one with a memorial action after the cremation services are behind you.

Start A Website For Them

If you are technologically gifted, one thing you might do for your loved one is to have a website placed for them. You can create a website that others can post onto and enjoy the results as they come in. People can put up pictures, type out memories, share birthday greetings when your loved one’s day rolls around, and so on. This website is something you can look at and comment on whenever you want to think about them. It can be a nice tribute for your family members to enjoy as well.

Create A Scrapbook

Some people enjoy putting together crafty items and you could gather pictures and other small mementoes and create a scrapbook to look over in the future. You can flip through the book whenever you want to think about your loved one and take it to family events to share with other people as well. It’s a nice memorial to them, and something you can enjoy as well.

Gather Memories From Family To Write Up

You have certain special memories of your loved one and others in your family do as well. You might take some time, emailing or writing to family members, and asking them to share memories with you. You could compile those memories into a book of your own and distribute it to family. Whenever anyone wants to think about their loved one, they can read through the memories and appreciate the person they love and miss.

Start New Rituals In Their Honor

While it can feel good to do some of the things you used to enjoy doing with your loved one, you are going to have to find a new sense of normality in your life as well. You might want to start some new rituals, so you are able to honor them in a new way. Consider going to the charity where they volunteered and take their slot. Set a place for them at the table and share stories about them at the holidays. These new rituals can honor them well into the future.cremation services in Tukwila, WA

Plant A Tree At Your Home

Your loved one meant a lot to your life and it’s nice to have a memorial to them right there in your yard. Plant a tree for your loved one and you can have a new life coming from the memories you have of them. You will think of them when you see the tree and feel like you are honoring them by having that new life nearby after their cremation services in Tukwila, WA.

cremation services in West Seattle, WA

Regulations Around Cremation Services

There are a lot of myths and pieces of misinformation around cremation services in Seattle, WA, and some people turn away from cremation because of those items. However, you need to know that any kind of cremation services are completely regulated and there are a lot of processes in place. It can help you to understand how things operate and make you feel better about considering the process for your loved one, or even for yourself as part of a pre-plan. Here are some of the regulations that are in place.

The Crematory Leaves No Ashes Behind

One of the concerns a lot of people have is that their loved one’s ashes will be mixed with other people’s remains. That’s something that can’t happen because crematories leave no ashes behind in the crematory between uses. The remains are completely taken out and the cremation chamber is thoroughly cleaned. You don’t have to worry about having someone else’s remains, even in part, mixed in with your loved one. What you receive is only your loved one, through and through.

Bodies Aren’t Cremated With Certain Materials

You might want to send your loved one into cremation with certain items, like their wedding ring, their glasses, or jewelry items. However, people cannot be cremated with certain materials, like metal. You can send letters, family photos, and some other things with them, but metallic and other materials aren’t possible. If you really want them to have things like their wedding ring, let the cremation process happen and then place the ring into the urn with your loved one’s remains. You are able to reunite them with those special items.

Records Are Highly Important

There’s a paperwork trail and records involved with every cremation and they are highly important to any provider. Those records are accurate and can help you to maintain a semblance of normalcy with the process. You can also rest assured that the records are kept private so you aren’t releasing personal information in any way, either. These records can help to show you that the cremation providers are organized and keep everything in order.

Identity Is Checked Regularly

Could your loved one be mixed up with someone else who is also waiting for cremation? No, not really. Identity is checked at several stages of the cremation process so you can have peace of mind that it’s your loved one who is being cremated and returned to you. There’s a process in place and that can help you to recognize the crematory knows just what they are doing.cremation services in West Seattle, WA

Quality Containers Are Required For Remains

You can use a variety of items for your loved one’s remains after direct cremation services in Seattle, WA. The only requirement is that they have to be quality containers to protect your loved one. The professionals at Columbia Funeral Home & Crematory can help you find an urn or another container that can protect your loved one, and be something you appreciate functionally and aesthetically. They are here for you to help you through every aspect of the process from start to finish.

funeral homes in Bellevue, WA

Reasons For Multiple Cremation Urns From Funeral Homes

Your primary concern after a loved one passes on is that their needs are met. They can no longer care for themselves, so you must work with funeral homes in Bellevue, WA and ensure that your loved one gets what they need. Once they are transported to the funeral home, you can take a little time to think over what you want to do for them. If you decide on cremation, that’s one big decision out of the way, but there are others to make. You might plan a memorial service, for example, or buy an urn for them. In fact, you might buy several urns. Here are a few reasons to use more than one urn for a loved one after their cremation.

Several Family Members Can Have Remains

You might have several family members who want to take your loved one home with them and your loved one wouldn’t want to spark any arguments. Instead of trying to negotiate, simply get as many urns as you need and split your loved one’s remains among them. Everyone can take a part of your loved one home with them and put them in a place of honor.

To Maintain Longevity

If you plan to keep your loved one in your home, you might consider placing them in several urns and allowing other people in the family to have part of them as well. While you always hope your home is a safe place, you never know what is going to happen. What if a fire occurs and the urn is destroyed? What if it gets knocked over, broken, and the remains are spilled out? When others in your family have remains, too, you have peace of mind that your loved one is still safe, even if something happens to one urn.

Prevent Family Feuds

Not every family gets along well and there might be some members that want to scatter remains while others want to bury them. With cremation, everyone can do whatever they want because they can all have a little bit of the remains. Separate the remains into different urns and distribute them among family members for whatever special resting place they want. It can help to prevent family arguments at a time when you really need to pull together.

The Costs Are Not Way Higher

funeral homes in Bellevue, WAYou may have a budget to watch out for and you may be concerned that buying several urns will break your budget. Keep in mind that when you buy more than one urn, you can get smaller urns. Buying several urns in a smaller size can often equal one urn in a larger size. The costs don’t have to be way higher. You can also have family members buy the urn of their choice for your loved one to take that cost pressure off you.

When you are looking into cremation services with funeral homes in Bellevue, WA, the professionals at Columbia Funeral Home & Crematory are here to help you if you want to get more than one urn.

cremation services in Bellevue, WA

Cremation Services Work Well In The Winter

When a loved one passes away over the winter months, of course you have options as to what you might want to do for them. However, cremation services in Bellevue, WA might be the easier way to go. Here are a few reasons why cremation services work so well in the winter, in addition to other times of the year.

The Ground Is Rather Hard

Burying a loved one during the winter months can be hard because the ground is, well, so hard. Once those hard freezes hit, the ground is hard to penetrate. The cemetery has ways of getting burials to happen either way, but if you are going to bury your loved one after cremation in your own garden, you might want to wait until an easier time. With cremation, you can wait for that final resting place until the spring months. The burial process can be more beautiful at that time as well, since you can plant new flowers around their final resting place right away.

Traveling Can Be Dangerous

Snow and ice are an imminent danger during the winter months in this area of the country. You never know when the skies are going to drop several inches of the white stuff on your city. And, if it does and you happen to have a memorial service planned, it can be dangerous for your loved ones (even those who are local!) to travel to the funeral home for the services. Instead of taking those chances, you can go with cremation and put off the memorial for a spring month that will more likely be pleasant, and safe, at the same time.

Outside Temperatures Are Uncomfortable

Sometimes you want to do something outside, at least in part, for your loved one’s final services. In the winter, the outside temperatures are rather uncomfortable, if not downright miserable. You can go with cremation instead of enduring and simply put the memorial service off until the spring comes and things will brighten outside. Everyone can be comfortable and enjoy the outdoor weather along with the memorial you want to plan, even if only part of it is outside.

Plans Can Wait

cremation services in Bellevue, WAThere are a lot of advantages to cremation services any time of the year. However, if the winter months are upon you, you can give your loved one what they need with cremation and then you can wait until spring for a memorial service. That can give you time to plan, time to process what has happened, and time to make something really special for your loved one and the rest of your family.

If a loved one passes on during the winter months, you still have all of the regular options included. But cremation services in Bellevue, WA might feel like the easier way to go. There’s no right or wrong reason to choose cremation and the professionals at Columbia Funeral Home & Crematory will help you to understand it’s always an honorable, respectful choice to make. Give us a call for any help at all.